1743
Leaving Ghent in February, 1743, the Royal Dragoons marched for Germany; and in June they were encamped, with the other forces, near Aschaffenburg, on the river Maine, where they were joined by King George II. and the Duke of Cumberland. On the 26th of June the army marched for Hanau, a town of Hesse-Cassel, and the Royal Dragoons formed part of the advance-column. When on the march the French were discovered in position near Dettingen: his Majesty commanded the army to form opposite the enemy, and the Royal Dragoons were posted near the right of the line.
The French advanced from their position and attacked the left of the allied army; the contest soon became general, and the English cavalry engaged the French cuirassiers with varied success. The Mousquetaires Noirs, a choice corps of French cavalry, separated themselves from their line, and, passing between two columns of infantry, rushed headlong towards the British cavalry. The Royal Dragoons, undaunted by this audacity, met the French horsemen with a cool, determined bearing, and, encountering them in mid-onset, overthrew the presumptuous squadrons, cut them down with a dreadful slaughter, and captured a STANDARD. The Royal Dragoons were afterwards engaged with the enemy's household troops; they were again victorious, and, though without armour, fought and triumphed over their steel-clad opponents, and received the thanks of his Majesty for their gallant conduct. Eventually the French army was overthrown, and driven from the field with great loss.
In this action the Royal Dragoons had six men and thirty-four horses killed and wounded. The Standard of the Mousquetaires Noirs was taken by a serjeant of the right squadron. It was of white satin, embroidered with gold and silver: in the middle a bunch of nine arrows tied with a wreath, with the motto Alterius Jovis altera tela. The lance was broken, the standard was stained with blood; the cornet who carried it was killed without falling, being buckled to his horse, and his standard buckled to him.[47]
The Royal Dragoons passed the night near the field of battle, exposed to a heavy storm of rain, and on the following day marched with the army to Hanau, and encamped on the banks of the river Kinzig, where they remained until the early part of August, when they advanced, and, having crossed the Rhine above Mentz, were employed in operations in West Germany. Nothing of importance, however, transpired; and in October they commenced their march for Mentz, where they repassed the Rhine, and, proceeding through the duchy of Nassau, the principality of Liege, and province of Brabant, entered Flanders, and, arriving at Ghent on the 18th of November, again occupied part of the cavalry barrack at that place.
1744
The campaign of 1744 passed without any general engagement. The army penetrated the French territory; but the services of the Royal Dragoons were limited to piquets, out-guards, and protecting foraging parties from the attacks of the French garrisons; and in October they returned to their former station at Ghent.
1745
In April, 1745, the Royal Dragoons marched from their winter quarters, and encamped near Brussels. The enemy assembled a numerous army, and invested Tournay, the chief town of a district in the province of Hainault; and the Duke of Cumberland, though inferior to the French in numbers by above thirty thousand men, resolved to attack them. His Royal Highness accordingly advanced; and on the 10th of May (N.S.) a squadron of the Royal Dragoons was engaged, with other forces, in driving in the enemy's out-guards and piquets. The French army was discovered in order of battle on a gentle ascent protected by batteries, and rising gradually from the plain near Fontenoy. At daybreak on the morning of the 11th of May the allies moved forward, but, having many defiles to pass, the attack did not commence until near ten o'clock. The British infantry advanced against the enemy, and throughout the day they displayed the greatest valour and intrepidity; but the Dutch did not evince equal resolution, and their failure occasioned the most unfortunate results. It was near the conclusion of the action before the Royal Dragoons were called upon to charge, when they advanced through a hollow way abounding with difficulties, and were exposed to the destructive fire of two batteries: they charged by alternate squadrons with all the spirit and resolution which characterizes the attack of British cavalry. But the Duke of Cumberland, perceiving that, from the failure of the Dutch and other causes, it was impossible to retrieve the fortune of the day, ordered a retreat, and the army marched from the field of battle, and encamped near Aeth.
The loss of the regiment in this engagement was fifteen men and sixty-nine horses killed; with Lieutenant-Colonel Naizon, Cornets Hartwell, Desmeret, and Creighton, thirty-one men, and forty-seven horses wounded.